how close is too close revisted

[Guest]

A guy put his house on a hole I drilled and I was standing 15 feet away fishing a different hole. By the way he was reading his GPS it was clear to me that the hole I drilled was right where his GPS said to fish. Does the GPS rule? Is 50 feet the rule? 100 ft? 100 yards? Seriously let's set a standard.

[Mojo Rising]

100 feet is my rule

[Dennis Steele]

Ahh yes the your too close thread.
I think it all depends on where you are fishing.In the Metro area some of the lake get hit pretty hard and it might be impossible to keep your distance if you want to fish a certain structure.I have seen reefs with so many permanant shaks on them that you can't even fish them by law.
I think the law states 10 feet.But I wouldn't set up that close except for a few lakes in the metro area.

[Ray Esboldt]

Can drive you nuts, can't it? I just hate honing in on people. I like to make my own conquests. But if someone sets up too close, I just bite my lip and strike up a conversation (assuming it's warm enough to be outside). I can usually talk them right out of my area.

However, if they have long blond hair and other eye-catching features, I'm more than happy to have them fishing withing a foot or two of me.

[danny berg]

I fish with basically the same group of guys, and we put all of our houses next to each other in kind of a little circle. Kind of like a little sub division. We create our own little world and ignore the rest....

[troutman72]

just the other day we had someone put a tip up in one of the holes i was fishing. ( i drill about ten holes in an area about ten to fifteen feet apart. i dont mind people parking next to me too much theres plenty of fish in the lake and i always seem to catch some. plus ice fishing isent like being in a boat no chance of crossing lines on the ice. or at least very little chance. heck if they ask ill even drill them a hole or give them bait. i dont usual fish by people or i try not to. but people always seem to find me and set up next to me or in the area.

[wasssit]

If they share some beer and put the cooler in between us, I have no problem. They should ask to use your opened holes, even if your not fishing in them. Unless, that's the one you [PoorWordUsage]ed in.
Hopefully, they greet themsleves first before they sit down next to you.

[jegerjack]

I think the size and structure dictate. If you are on a smaller lake with little structure people should have the right to be a bit closer with out complaint. But if you are on a lake with multiple options you might want to be more courteous. But I say live and let live, last thing people need is one more thing to stress out over…

JegerJack

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"What did the old man trade for these guys, a used puck bag?"

[wall eyell be]

According to the Red Lake forum;
If you see someone fishing by himself more than half a mile from anyone else. For your own safety, You DON'T want to get within SPUD CANNON range of this individual.

W E B

[Finlander]

If someone sets up too close to you just start singing or if you have a radio turn on some music real loud.
If they start fishing your holes you drilled without asking, then ask them if they brought the bait!
The gaul of people setting up real close to you on a 6 thousand acre lake is just plain stupid! Give me my space and i'll give you your space!
It's that simple! I think!!!

[opsirc]

maybe its just me, but I do like like to have people on top of me. I would never even think of just driving up next to some-one and start fishing a hole they drilled. thats just plain arrogant and bad ethics. I dislike the people that think a certain piece of the lake is theirs. I perfer to fish away from a group, unless its a planed outing. most of the lakes are big enough, that people should not have to be on top of each other.

O

[Ruttin' Buck]

Most guys I'll let be as they have a right to be there as much as I do. No reason to start a vandetta against your permanent ice shack. But, I do like to move around my tip-ups and I feel like I'm the one interfering as soon as someone's pulled up next to me.

So like Ray, I like my tricks. I fish primarily out of my 8x12' and have had my share of close-fishers. Here a few to try in order from least to most cruel:

PARKING THE TRUCK
Guys love to use the permanents for windbreaks. Always park your rig on the downwind side of the house close enough so that if a person was between the truck and house they'd feel uncomfortably involved, but far enough to push them out a ways.

RELEASE THE HOUNDS
As soon as the guy starts getting close, I like to open the door and let my lab out. I call her back immediately as if she wasn't supposed to get out, before she's 'done' anything. Then, they know I have a dog and I talk to them....hopefully out of the area. If he sets up next to me anyway, I'll let her go again about 5 minutes later. As a friendly lab will be, she'll visit the closest person in the area. No harm but pestering nonetheless. Also, it's a Kodak moment when the dog is taking care of business 10 feet from the guy sitting on a pail and they're both staring at each other.

A FIGHT IS ENSUEING (easier with >1 person in house)
When the guy gets close grab your bag/box of empty beer cans (most ice shacks have some stock of these). Throw one out the door every 3-5 minutes. After there are about 10 on the ice start raising voices. Throw a few more. Then let the fight (staged) begin. Phrases with explatives help. Pounding on the walls and turning lights on and off is a bonus. Makes people nervous, especially if done before noon.

CRUEL SARCASM
When the person pulls up next to you and drops a line if you are a confrontive person, this works. Open the door a stick you head out far enough to say, "HEY, you sure you don't want to fish in here? It's alot warmer and the holes are already drilled!"...followed by a door slam. Note: you will not make friends this way.

I don't really believe in being rude, but noisy individuals that don't respect distance when they fire up the auger as the sun rises deserve to have one poor day of fishing. I equate a night spend in the house waiting for the walleye bite followed by these guys to hunting in your favorite deer stand only to have Captain Stomps Alot walk buy during prime time. It's just wrong.

[Gissert]

I avoid crowds like the plague, so I don't know what the proper etiquette is for the shanty villages on some lakes.

I don't mind someone setting up near me when I am all alone unless it is after 3:30 in the afternoon. Heck, I'll usually offer to help if they are having difficulties. That will give me an idea of what kind of fisherman they are, and it often turns into a learning experience for the both of us.

If someone comes up at 4pm or later and starts ripping holes real close to me, they will get comments.

There have been times where I have got a late start in the afternoon, and I will go to where there is no one else out of common courtesy.

[Guest]

Visited a friend last year, and we took his portable out on a north metro lake to do a little spearing one afternoon. Friend, his kid and I sat in the house that afternoon, seeing quite a few small northerns, some rough fish, and one "keeper" northern about 4-5 lbs that the boy didn't get a chance at.
About 3:30 - prime time - this guy shows up, asks what we are doing, and upon hearing that we are spearing he fires up his auger and drills holes for the next hour. No kidding. We lost track of how many holes Mr. Jerk actually drilled. He was close enough that ice chips kept drifting into our hole.
This guy looks like a real moron, acts like a real moron, so we laughed and figured if he was getting some enjoyment, at least he wasn't out molesting children or kicking dogs.
As darkness fell, we broke down the portable, packed up and prepared to leave.
Moron was in his flip up, glaring out at us, and his tip-up was about 5 feet from our hole. My friend tells his boy to head back to the car, and as the youngster heads out dragging his sled, friend winks at me, shows me a can of beer, walks over to the guy's tip-up pretends he's unzipping, and then dumps the can of beer all over the tip-up so it looks like he's taking a whiz on it.
I'm almost crying at this point. Moron comes charging out of his flipup, screaming like a small child. Ignoring the screaming moron, we took off back to the car also. The kid asked what all the ruckus was about, and all we could do was laugh.

[Guest]

The law does state 10 feet but....

I've had guys drill holes so close that the shavings hit the side of the shack..

Had guys do the old wind-break thing, even have found them IN my house!

Even had an 80 year old lady tell me to "go get F'd" after I kindly asked her and her husband to please move after they set up so close that I could reach out my portable and touch theirs!

Last year had a couple guys threaten to start a fight because we were in "their" holes...even though we were fishing "their" spot for 2 hours with no one else within 500 yards!

Oh the joys of having to fish public waters!!...LOL

[WallEYES]

If it's within potato cannon/gun distance it's too close. If it becomes real ugly the pumpkin launcher comes out.

[mnrstrider]

Well I think concealed carry is going to have a little influence on some people I they try and be rude, heck I'm sure I'll be a heck of a lot nicer not knowing if they are packing more heat than a portable heater, personally it would all depend on the people's attitude, if I'm the only shack in an area, give me 30 feet or share some beer. I'd rather move than fight.

[Renneberg]

I hate it when I'm out on a big lake, far away from the crowds or on a lake where there's no one and someone will come over and set up just a few feet from where I'm fishing.

When they ask how's the fishing I sometime tell them that I don't know why I even fish this lake anymore? All I catch are small perch and gills.
When I'm on a lake by myself I usally tell them that this is the first time I've fished here and I now know why no one else fishes out here in the winter.

Too close for me is 30 feet. If you stay outside that bubble I'll be more then happy to tell you how I'm doing and what I'm catching them on.

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"Study to be quiet"

[Animal]

I would say that it depends on how many people are on the spot. At LOW at Wheeler's Point I expect lots of company. When I'm fishing Crow Lake or Rowan out of Nestor Falls, Ont. I don't think anyone should hone in. What I expect and what happens is usually another matter. The guy may be rude, but what can you or I do because it is a public place.

Animal